Maker & Muse: Women and Early Twentieth Century Art Jewelry

Featuring exquisite examples of beauty and craftsmanship by makers such as Louis Comfort Tiffany, René Lalique, and Charlotte Newman, Maker & Muse celebrates the impact of women on the innovative and imaginative jewelry of the early 1900s. This exhibition examines variations in themes, forms, and interests among the English Arts and Crafts movement, French Art Nouveau, the Jugendstil (youth style) of Austria and Germany, and American regional makers in New York and Chicago.

Women are a significant part of this story, not only as the market for jewelry, but as makers and as inspiration. The Art Nouveau movement, in particular, was fascinated with the female form as a design element in the guise of fairies, nymphs, and dangerously alluring sirens and mermaids.

This exhibition also features examples of related decorative arts, and explores the social context of women taking a larger, more modern role in the workplace and on the cultural stage. 

An audio tour of Maker & Muse, including 18 tour stops spanning the five sections of the exhibition, will be available to visitors included with the price of admission. The audio tour features an introduction by the Frick’s Executive Director, Elizabeth Barker, as well as commentary by Richard H. Driehaus, jewelry collector and founder of The Richard H. Driehaus Museum, Elyse Zorn Karlin, exhibition curator, and Ulysses Dietz, Chief Curator Emeritus of the Newark Museum and noted decorative arts expert. 

Maker & Muse: Women and Early Twentieth Century Art Jewelry was organized by the Richard H. Driehaus Museum and is toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC.

The Pittsburgh presentation of this exhibition is made possible by The Richard C. von Hess Foundation. Additional support is provided by Henne Jewelers.